---
category: Intelligence & Government
died: 1992
summary: Convicted British arms dealer acting for the CIA who offered Ari Ben-Menashe
  $2 million and U.S. citizenship for his silence.
tags:
- Person
- CIA
- ArmsDealer
- Soviet
---

[Herbert Alwyn Smith](/people/herbert-alwyn-smith/) was a convicted British arms dealer. He contacted [Ari Ben-Menashe](/people/ari-ben-menashe/) through an informant in early 1991, while [Ben-Menashe](/people/ari-ben-menashe/) was in Lexington, Kentucky.[^1]

[Smith](/people/herbert-alwyn-smith/), acting on behalf of the [CIA](/organizations/central-intelligence-agency/), offered [Ben-Menashe](/people/ari-ben-menashe/) a deal: $2 million and [U.S.](/places/united-states/) citizenship in exchange for his silence and a signed statement that he had no legal claims or allegations against the [U.S.](/places/united-states/) government. [Ben-Menashe](/people/ari-ben-menashe/) received a letter of credit for the amount but did not accept the deal.[^1]

[Smith](/people/herbert-alwyn-smith/) visited [Ben-Menashe](/people/ari-ben-menashe/) in [Australia](/places/australia/) five times over the next year. He also arranged for [Ben-Menashe](/people/ari-ben-menashe/) to meet with [CIA](/organizations/central-intelligence-agency/) officials in Ireland in August 1991 and with [Robert Maxwell](/people/robert-maxwell/) in the [Soviet Union](/places/soviet-union/) the same month. The purpose of these meetings was to try to get [Ben-Menashe](/people/ari-ben-menashe/) to hand over control of part of the slush fund to the [CIA](/organizations/central-intelligence-agency/).[^1]

[Smith](/people/herbert-alwyn-smith/) died in March 1992, purportedly of a heart attack, ten days after leaving Sydney, [Australia](/places/australia/).[^1]

[^1]: Ben-Menashe, Ari. *Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network*. TrineDay, 1992.